ALL The Best Countries in the World are High Tax?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ย. 2024
- Get personalized advice about tax, asset protection, offshore banking, residency, and citizenships: calendly.com/m...
You can visit our websites for more information about us: offshorecitize... & www.offshoreca...
The better the country, the higher the taxes?
Do all first world developed countries have high taxes?
If you want to live in some of the best countries in this world does it mean that your tax bill will be high? Or could you find a place that is equally good but with lower tax rates?
We're answering all these questions today!
We'll be debunking this myth, and we'll be comparing taxes in different countries to show you that more taxes don't necessarily make a place better.
Who are we and what do we do?
We are Offshore Citizen team. We help people become global: get a second passport, set up a second residency, pay less taxes, do banking abroad, etc.
We have lots of interesting articles on different topics, we have relevant information up to date.
Author: Michael Rosmer
Feel free to join our community!
Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel
/ @offshorecitizen
Whether high taxes contribute to your quality of life depends on how much you depend on government services. Usually those who benefit most from government services pay the least taxes and vice versa.
Exactly !
The point of this video is that's not really true.
You can see this looking between states and countries
This channel should have thousands more subscribers.
Fantastic Michael, as usual.
Thank you!
Great review, thanks! Truth about Portugal. I moved here 9 month ago. Government ecosystem and small business service awful but taxes are very high. The benefit is clean air, nice climate, beautiful nature, and that it’s still Europe.
I think that as you said, nominal tax brackets only tell one side of the story. To determine whether a country is a high-tax country or not, one should look at tax revenue-to-gdp ratio. in this regard, ivory coast although its nominal 60% maximum tax bracket isn't very effective at collective tax and can be considered as an average tax country.
Regarding the absence of correlation between low tax countries and quality of life, I like to see it from the burn rate point of view: the cost of maintaining infrastructure, roads, police, army and a more or less homogeneous judiciary and education system, exponentially increases according to the size of the country.
The bigger the country, the more expensive it is to run, in exponential terms. Overexpansion is often quoted as one of the main reasons why the Roman Empire collapsed.
Small countries can be prosperous thanks to multiple factors:
- recent exponential development of international trade,
- international system where one cannot invade another country anymore without facing backlash and sanctions,
- small infrastructure to maintain, most of the time no army,
- small population with foreigners easily expulsable,
- sometimes foreign capital attraction thanks to fiscal incentives (allowing them to reverse their brain/capital drain that traditionally went towards developped countries),
- tourism,
- for the Middle East, oil.
They are more agile, nimble and easy to maneuver.
See the vaccine rollout, small countries had 80% of their population vaccinated very quickly.
See the debt to gdp ratio, small countries are generally way less in debt than bigger ones.
Bigger countries, especially the ones that aim at reinforcing their regional (or worldwide) power projection capabilities have to consume way more cash than the smaller countries. They need to burn cash to maintain all of this.
Small countries clearly have best of both worlds in the current more-or-less stable international context. In a disorganized and less cooperative world, they are potential preys of bigger and more aggressive players (see Taiwan).
It is incorrect to look at revenue to gdp as the prime thing here because you can get to a high revenue to GDP from, for example, having a moderate flat tax that you are very good at collecting or a very high tax rate that you are total shite at collecting. The first example would be considered a low tax country by most and the second likely has a lot of corruption that not only makes it a high tax country, but also a terrible country because equality under the law doesn't exist, your outcome from government interaction may not be easy to forecast.
Taxes are also high in country like India and it has low quality of life .the top tax in India is 43%
If I were a country, I would much rather have Investors than higher taxes. Peace.
What's the situation like in your country?
I would argue that Singapore, Liechtenstein, etc have higher absolute per capita taxes than neighboring countries, which comes from the higher per-capita income and productivity. So - yes, ultimately, both higher productivity and higher absolute taxes are what make good public infrastructure, but not necessarily high relative tax rates.
Interesting topic. Like you say there are dozens of things.Just an opinion .One common trend shared with countries with high taxes could be how much indebted countries are with the global financial system( big funds, big banks etc ) the lower the debt with the financial system the less taxes they need to collect(your example Hungary as opossed to Portugal) Hungary had a public battle with the financial system big ones, some were banned,or kicked out the country so their debt is low. Simply check the debt of countries by GDP. Most developed countries are 100% indebted at least, they need to kill the middle-lower classes with taxes, public debt is at least one - two years of GDP, do we get it?. Iin many countries most of the taxes collected by the states go to pay the debt, now unpayable so what it is paid are the interests rates. Eastern European countries have ( very) low to gdp (foreign) debts, bad local services aside, they can be capable of funding their financial system with John Doe fiscal residency or Jane Doe BackpackNomad ´only´. Population could be another factor, the less the merrier, one thing for sure, productivity to have low taxes is not very important, many HQ of life (small ) countries produce really nothing , export even less . Too lenghy. Keep up the good work.
nice video! i was having some of these toughts because I am in a bubble, thanks for pointing it out
The correlation between high income tax rates and quality of life can be complex and depends on various factors. **Generally**, higher income taxes can enable governments to provide more comprehensive public services and social welfare programs, which can contribute to a higher overall quality of life. However, the impact of income tax rates on quality of life can vary depending on how tax revenues are utilized and distributed, as well as other socio-economic factors in each country.
Here are some examples of countries with relatively high income tax rates and generally high quality of life:
1. **Denmark**: Denmark is known for its high income tax rates, with a progressive tax system where the top marginal tax rate can exceed 50%. However, Denmark consistently ranks high in quality of life indices due to its well-developed welfare state, which provides extensive healthcare, education, and social benefits.
2. **Sweden**: Sweden also has high income tax rates, particularly for higher earners. The tax revenues support a generous welfare system that includes universal healthcare, high-quality education, and comprehensive social services. Sweden is often cited for its high standard of living and overall well-being.
3. **Norway**: Norway has a progressive income tax system with high rates, especially for those with higher incomes. The country uses these tax revenues to fund robust public services, including healthcare, education, and social security. Norway consistently ranks among the countries with the highest quality of life globally.
4. **Finland**: Finland's income tax rates are relatively high, particularly for individuals with higher earnings. However, Finland is renowned for its excellent public education system, universal healthcare, and overall societal well-being. These services are largely funded through tax revenues.
5. **Netherlands**: The Netherlands has a progressive income tax system, with higher tax rates for higher incomes. The country scores well in quality of life measures due to its strong social welfare programs, efficient healthcare system, and emphasis on work-life balance.
It's important to note that while these countries have high income tax rates and generally high quality of life, correlation does not necessarily imply causation. Many other factors, such as economic stability, social policies, education levels, healthcare quality, and cultural attitudes, also influence the overall quality of life in each country. Additionally, the perception of a high quality of life can vary among individuals based on personal preferences and priorities.
👏🥂🎉excellent content , great tropic, what’s your website and blog please?
Thank you!
You can check it out here offshorecitizen.net/
Feel free to reach out in case you need any assistance :)
2:45 Now ask the question ''who prints the money''
The real question Michael is, What are the best countries? Maybe mine are not the same as yours. Not all are taxes or finance...maybe food, weather etc
Yeah this is why we create comparison videos
What are your favorites?
Great video.
Idea for next topic...How about a video of High quality of living vs. low taxes vs. personal freedoms.
Good suggestion will see what we can do
1st considerable question is - u want pay 0 tax or pay some tax ? If u want to pay 0 then there have option, If u want to pay tax then there are lots of options, Asia, Eastern Europe, even in europe with non-dom cyprus,ireland,malta or lump sum tax in italy,greece, Switzerland.
So main question isin which region want to live and why, then find a better tax option.
What is interesting is how some countries have a high advertised tax rate yet massive loopholes to pay little to no taxes, typically available for investors if you have a sufficiently big portfolio (8 figures and up). So the questions is also, high taxes (percentage wise) for who?
This is rarely accurate. Very few countries have special tax regimes for HNW but yes a couple do at least for a time
We did a video a while back on the best countries depending on how much you earn
@@OffshoreCitizen Belgium has the “vastgoedbevak” exempting real estate investors from capital gains, Netherlands has the “vrijgestelde beleggingsinstelling” exempting stock investors from capital gains etc. It does take a bit of money to set up though.
The distorted view is believing that taxes are the only determining factor of higher quality of life. Along with taxation there is the ability of a nation to have encompassing and equitable policies and customs. That is why one will find high taxation places and low quality of life just like one will find low taxation places with the best quality of life they can afford. If one wants to look at answer this question one would have to look at many variables, e.g. natural resources, climate, location, culture, progressive policies and policies, education, size of the country and above all what does a nation define as a "high quality of life". And by the way, Hungary? ... are you joking? This is a complex and large subject with many variables and undefined definition for what you are attempting to explain.
It's a bit tricky... It's like... The places with the more.. vibrant western urban socially liberalish places have higher taxes.. usually
Can you talk about the tax changes coming to UAE in 2023?
I did a couple videos about it when it was first announced
Another fascinating topic and educational video. I always learn something.
It's certainly difficult to compare taxes with quality of life--as you've brilliantly noted.
However, I offer two very minor observations (and I don't have the numbers to back me up. Mostly hearsay and personal observations. Sorry).
(1) I've always heard (perhaps a myth) that while Washington state has no income tax, this is made up in part by higher sales and real estate taxes. Perhaps corporate taxes are higher as well?
(2) Interesting example: quality of life in San Marino is better than Italy. From my perspective, the Italian areas surrounding San Marino are very similar. I suppose if you compare San Marino with an impoverished and quasi-abandoned hill town of southern Italy, of course, San Marino would have a higher quality of life than the entire Italian Republic, by virtue of San Marino being situated in a relatively industrious area on the Italian peninsula.
Thank you 'Lord Michael.' 😁
It's 100% accurate that often states get revenue from different sources such as real estate taxes vs income taxes. Similar for countries but even when you net it out there are big differences that make it difficult to correlate taxes to quality of life in any meaningful way. But yes you should look at the overall picture not just a particular tax
Michael, I have heard of a tax strategy that involves not spending more than 4 months in 3 different countries. Do this work or is this just a "Pipe Dream"? Thanks so much for the excellent videos.
I've done some videos about this in the past where I discuss the nuances you can probably look up perpetual travelers on the channel and similar topics. The answer is it depends on the country you come from and connection in the other countries and which those countries are
@@OffshoreCitizen Thank you so much, Michael.
Just an example, healthcare is imho most certainly one of the main contributors to quality of life. In high taxed countries like the Scandinavian countries, healthcare is readily available and at no cost. And in Uniquely Singapore you may also have world class healthcare available, however you need a good (and expensive) healthcare insurance, to get that world class services and care. Just an example. In so called low taxed, high quality countries most of the quality is costly. Not as in taxes, but as in you need to fork out a lot of money to get it.
But it's really not that expensive. I've talked about this previously. The easiest proxy for Healthcare costs is % of GDP spent on healthcare. The US is high at 18% but it's the exception. Most developed countries are 10-12%, Singapore is 4%
Malta, Cyprus, San Marino, HK, Singapore… only very small countries. Is there any big country with low taxes?
Eastern Europe would probably have the best of this along with the middle east
Saudi arabia is the largest country with no income tax i guess
All Considered, it seems usually, in most cases, are usually relatively small countries that can afford low taxes.
Even the comparison between "low tax" states such as Washington or Florida falls flat when considering they have high property taxes and high sales taxes, though frankly me and maybe most would rather prefer that kind of indirect taxation than having to keep records and files and to file taxes for personal income etc.
I mean you can compare eastern vs western European countries. They are about the same size but much lower taxes in general in the east.
Similar compare Texas a huge state with small states.
It's hard to make the argument that size is the key factor.
Even if you look at island nations some Caribbean Islands are zero tax while others have relatively high tax but they are pretty comparable in most Regards.
It seems to me the causality is perhaps more in reverse. Over time most places seem to raise as much as they can get away with vs raising to deliver value.
Consider California tax increases. Why do the taxes go up? It's not like the taxes have risen to make life better. Taxes have gone up as things have gotten worse. Tax income per person is very high but where are the results?
There simply isn't the tax connection to quality of life.
@@OffshoreCitizen , yeah, but as i and some others said, they make up the taxes by having either higher property taxes and relatively high sales taxes and or high tariffs etc.
There are of course multiple factors at play, but there is no question that in most developed places that also have certain cultural components or even vast majority of them that have high taxes have good to very good quality of life and good to very good services.
That being said, i think it's not necessary and maybe unfair for them to have high taxes for people that earn less than 100k per year, and i think usually indirect taxation such as property and sales taxes etc are a better way to tax people and businesses etc and it's a non-intrusive way that lets businesses and innovations flow, though i.r.s. and accountants lobby against that.
Another way would be to offer optional taxation for high earners, such as in U.S.A., where if they use some of that money for investments, jobs, or to purchase properties etc they are not taxed, but taxed if they don't.
That's how you incentivize economic growth, or one way at least.
A state like Washington doesn't have "no taxes." They have high sales tax, instead of income tax. The state still gets tax revenue from residents and uses it to provide a good quality of life.
I think nobody suffering from sale tax because it include in price of product and people pay it automatic
Size of the country matters. Often time people will tell you "sure but SG is small and not sure they can attain the same result with 100M residents".
I think it's a valid point, not sure if it's really a problem but clearly when you have a large population, the people living on the margin are more frequent hence they need some form of social support.
I'd argue there's a bunch of examples of where societies handle this without government services and certainly at a far lower cost
@@OffshoreCitizen , oh yeah? like where? and how?
Nobody NEEDS social support ffs...
Even when you only take Europe into account, rich high quality of life countries can afford to try the high tax experiment without ending up in poverty within a few years, poorer and lower quality of life countries don't have that luxury.
It's not that there's no causation in the QoL-taxation correlation, it's just that it's the other way round.
People are universally driven to socialism but only the wealthy can truly experiment with it and have that system survive for a few generations before falling apart.
Michael, I hear a lot about the Republic of Georgia from friends, is Georgia low tax?
Relatively low tax yes depending on your form of income
Is it possible to own house in for example UK and Germany and maybe USA and dont pay tax there, pay tax in Switzerland or Dubai instead ? and live in the mentioned countrys a couple a mounth a year ?
Possible but specifics matter. Best to book a call to discuss the nuances
Low tax countries attract high net worth individuals who don’t want to pay high tax, they spend their wealth in these countries, spreading the wealth around organically.
The share of very wealthy people who go live in low tax countries is pretty small though. At this stage there's only 3 widely considered high quality life long term low tax places that get considered
Dubai
Singapore
Monaco
Others are usually limited time ie UK non dom or moderate tax ie Switzerland
UAE- for individuals what about social media influencer license? Is it true it costs 15,000 AED
Is having a media freezone company with online advertising activity adequate.
Or do individuals also have to pay 15,000 AED more for the NMC influencer license?
Appreciate content and kindly reply thanks
Please send us a message through www.offshorecitizen.net
For the algo, btw, what MBTI are you?
Note: Malaysia it's quite small compared to India, neither does it have the inherent issues of India. since you said "Malaysia it's a big country".
That's fair the point was it's not just these sub 5 million people countries with low tax.
I agree it's not easy to make the argument that high-tax countries generally have a higher quality of life than low tax countries. However, I do also think that most low tax countries have the advantage of being small/tiny countries and therefore don't need to deal with common security concerns that large or medium sized countries have to deal with such as having a military or other expensive security personnel that keeps a country safe, because they are politically irrelevant on the world stage. Countries that are politically relevant or have a lot of adversaries around the world wouldn't be able to afford the security personnel needed to keep their country safe with low tax revenues. Lastly and most importantly, most low tax countries don't have a pension system or have very low paying pension systems. Whatever you make in low-tax countries throughout your life has to last until the end. If you stop working at 65, you must have 15-20 years of savings in order to make it to your 80s. Some financially literate people will be able to plan this far ahead. But the truth is most people aren't capable of planning ahead this far, which is why pension systems exist in the first place and why high tax revenues are needed to fund it.
Canada is an example of one of many big countries with a very insubstantial military so I don't think the defense spending argument goes far.
As far as pension systems go that's generally paid separate from taxes through social contributions so also doesn't explain much about tax rates.
If you dive into it what you'll typically find is the dominant factors are the productivity, efficiency and corruption tend to be the larger driving issues
@@OffshoreCitizen True, Canada is a one of the few countries where military spending isn't that necessary, but most countries in the world do need that i.e. all European countries (especially right now), the US, Russia, Iran, most African/South American and even Asian countries based on their regional conflicts.
I include social contributions under the tax umbrella since all mandatory contributions to the government are effectively tax payments. Most low tax countries don't have socials either as it's mostly private.
Don't get me wrong, I prefer living in a low tax country as well. But I also think, that the low tax model only works for a small selection of countries.
Love your content btw! Been a follower for years!
Interesting Michael, smaller populations with less bureaucracy and also countries with no hard drug issues maybe due to culture and/or severe drug penalties but probably a political hot potato in the Western world.
Can you please discuss patent taxes.
What do you mean?
What do you mean?
@@OffshoreCitizen I mean does it matter where you filled patent for taxes or have to file it in offshore jurisdiction.
I think in order to improve this argument it's best to compare countries that have comparable productivity, social services, and quality of life then see how high or low taxes and efficiency of resource allocation fairs in this bracket. A corrupt third world country robbing its people blind with little to no social services in return would be an unfair comparison to one that doesn't or to one that allocates resources efficiently vs inefficiently.
What are some examples you'd use?
I would like to leave Canada for taxation purposes but perhaps once the Conservative government gets in they may change some of the taxation that the liberals/socialists have put in place i/e wealth and carbon etc.. So I will give it a few more years but I will be ready to jump, with a 3rd passport, if it is warranted.
I think you can see by history that taxes don't change much regardless of which party is in power
😮
How did you like the video? :D
Thank God the middle east & the United States have OIL!
Yes though a bunch of countries don't and have similar or in some cases superior outcomes